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The next significant step for Volleyball in India, along the lines of Kabaddi, Badminton, and Wrestling, has emerged from the Volleyball Federation of India joining hands with Baseline Ventures to promote the first-ever RuPay Pro Volleyball League.
Six teams are all set to take part in the inaugural edition at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi and the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai.
With each team having twelve players, including two international players and one Indian marquee player, the Calicut Heroes is one of the two teams from the state of Kerala. Let us delve deeper and get to know more about the management, the players and the coaching staff of the team.
With each team having twelve players, including two international players and one Indian marquee player, the Calicut Heroes is one of the two teams from the state of Kerala. Let us know more about the management, the players and the coaching staff of the team.
Calicut Heroes is owned by Beacon Group, an IT firm based in the city. Director of Beacon Sports, Mr. Jasheer P. K., and Managing Director, Mr. Safeer, launched the Calicut Heroes bandwagon in the presence of Malayalam actor, Harith.
The team has picked Paul Lotman from the foreign players draft, while India’s Jerome Vinith Charles is the icon player for the team. Jerome has also been named as the captain of the Heroes.
The team comprises of four attackers, three blockers, two setters and universal players each and one libero. Let’s get to know the players in greater detail and see what they bring to the team:
Attackers
International Icon player: Paul Michael Lotman from the United States of America brings in a wealth of experience to the Calicut-based team.
Well known for his attacking prowess, Lotman represented the United States men‘s national volleyball team which won the World League title in 2014 and the 2015 World Cup in Japan. He was also a member of the U.S. team that participated at the 2012 London Olympics.
He has played in the NCAA and leagues all over the world in countries like Puerto Rico, France, Italy, Germany, Greece, Poland, and Indonesia. Lotman will play as an outside hitter for the Heroes in their quest for the inaugural title.
Ajith Lal from Trivandrum, Kerala is the perfect embodiment of a rising young star who has taken some extremely challenging situations on the chin and kept his head down.
With his ability to stay in the air longer, he gained the nickname of “Hydrogen boy”. Armed with an impressive smash, Lal has represented India at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang.
Gagan Kumar from Haryana is a nineteen-year-old attacker who has represented India at the Under-21 level in BRICS Games 2018. With a powerful serve in his arsenal, he will take the role of an attacker for the Heroes in the 2019 RuPay Pro Volleyball League.
Jithu Thomas from Thodupuzha, who plays for the Services team is known for his counter-attacking game and effective service. He won the gold medal for the most outstanding attacker in the 2016 Federation Volleyball Championships.
Universal
Jerome Vinith Charles is the icon player for the Calicut Heros. Formerly an SRM University player, he plays for the Indian Volleyball and the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited teams and captained Kerala at the 67th Senior National Volleyball Championship.
Even though he was born in Tamil Nadu, he is considered to be Kerala’s own with him being one of the favourite athletes amongst the people of Kerala.
He is known for his powerful back-line attacking skills and service while his clever tactics give him an added edge.
Naveen Kumar, a player of the Indian Services team, provides a left-handed attacking option for the Heroes.
The 25-year-old from Haryana is known for his strong service and attacking ability. A constant threat from the back-line attack, Naveen won the best player award at the 2016 Federation Cup.
Blockers
Ilouoni Ngampourou from the Republic of Congo is the second international player of the team. He is touted to play a vital role as the middle blocker in the Heroes’ set up.
Standing tall at 208 cm, Ngampourou has a mighty spike reach of 370 cm along with a block jump reach of 355 cm. He plays for Egypt’s Tala El Geish club and won Egypt’s ‘Best Blocker Award’ in 2018.
Karthik A, the captain of the Karnataka Volleyball team, is one of the best blockers in the country.
His powerful jump service and a thunderous attack took the Karnataka State Volleyball team to the finals of the 67th Senior National Volleyball Championship where they overcame Tamil Nadu to claim their first ever Championship. He will also be a vital piece of the puzzle for the Heroes and will perform as the center blocker for the Calicut Heroes.
L.M. Manoj born in Hassan, Karnataka plays for Tamil Nadu as their center blocker. He is on the verge of achieving a breakthrough into the Indian National team after stringing together some exceptional performances at the recent National Championships. He will give the Heroes another quality blocking option.
Setter
Vipul Kumar from Shamli, Uttar Pradesh represents the Indian Railways as a setter. He played a crucial role in the Railways campaign during the Senior Nationals and the Federation Cup.
He is considered one of the most productive setters in the game and is also well known for his technical brilliance.
Sanjay A from Tamil Nadu is an upcoming setter following in the footsteps of Mohan Ukkrapandian. The youngest member of the team, he represented the national and the Tamil Nadu team in U-21 tournaments recently.
Libero
Ratheesh C.K. has proved everyone that age is just a number after becoming the costliest libero in the league.
A reliable digger in the game, he has impressed at crucial junctures in many matches for the Kerala state team. Even at the age of 30, he has the power to smash hard and has mastered the art of delivering the ball with ease to the setter.
Ratheesh has played for almost all the major clubs in Kerala, except the Navy. He was snatched by the Calicut Heroes for a sum of Rs. 9.8 Lakhs.
Coaching Staff
The coaching staff for the Heroes comprises of mentor, Kishore Kumar from Calicut and head coach, Sajjad Hussain Malik from Jammu. Kishore is a former Indian Volleyball team and Tamil Nadu player.
He is known to be one of the fittest players in the sport and had made a comeback to the game in 2016 after a six-year hiatus.
Sajjad Hussain Malik coaches the Jammu & Kashmir Police Department. A former player himself, Malik has been coaching since 2005 and is an FIVB Level 1 and Level 2 coach.
Fan Following
Tryco has been announced as the social media partner of Calicut Heroes. They engaged the social media by tagging Calicut Heroes Fans Group as “Chembada“, which translates to "The Red Army". With the logo and the player jerseys colored in red, the team is all set to “Paint it Red”.
Indian singer Shankar Mahadevan has sung the theme song for Calicut Heroes, which celebrates the passion for Volleyball across the nation and portrays the culture of Kerala.
